Chapter 234 – Playing Chess

“Your Majesty, he…has already placed his stone,” said the old man with white hair and beard suddenly as he sat in front of the Go board and looked on quietly.

Across from him, the middle-aged man in black and purple robes that only the emperor could wear looked indifferently at the almost empty board that had only one black stone and one white stone. His lips slowly curled into a smile. “Looks like he’s accepted the gamble.”

As he put a stone down, the board began to transform. Wind and clouds suddenly blew, cities came up, and mountains and rivers appeared. The 49 domains floated above the board.

In the spot right in the middle, a white stone stood proudly. Black ones were in the four corners.

The old man looked at Ying Zheng’s face and sounded like he was reminiscing as he said, “It’s been a long time since I saw Your Majesty smile. I’m sure Prince Fusu would be happy to know that.”

Ying Zheng chuckled quietly and did not respond. He turned and said to the servant next to him, “Send order to do everything according to plan. Do not create any trouble.”

After that, he looked up at the old man, who was aging more and more quickly, and said emotionlessly, “It has been a long time since I’ve run into another person with no heart. In this vast universe with tens of thousands of worlds in it, he is the only one who is qualified to play this game with me. Because our aims are different, there is no need to be hostile toward one another.”

He hadn’t said much, but it contained a lot of implications.

Gu Suihan wanted the truth. He wanted to know what existed above and beyond the Way. He didn’t care about the process. He wanted answers even if he had to massacre the whole world and wipe out every living thing.

Ying Zheng wanted to conquer all worlds and take over the universe. He wanted to rule over everyone with an iron fist. He wanted to stand in the high skies and look down on all living things.

Gu Suihan wasn’t interested in fighting the great Qin empire at all. On the contrary, he was only interested in the item that the emperor had.

The emperor admired Gu Suihan for his persistence. That’s right, he admired Gu Suihan. At the same time, he was also interested in the hide that Gu Suihan possessed.

The difference was that the former had become a cultivator for this purpose, while the latter was just a little curious.

In this vast universe, all sorts of people with all sorts of desires existed. Cultivators were as many as the goldfish in the river.

Some cultivated for immortality. Some did it to gain strength. Some were ambitious.

Most people fell within these categories, but Gu Suihan was unique. He just wanted to know the truth of the essence that had been buried beneath history.

That’s why the emperor admired someone like that. Because…he could never do it.

“I’ve placed the second stone. What choice would you make?” murmured Gu Suihan as he knelt quietly on the soft cushion and looked up at the black and white stones above him. He slowly put the black stone in his hand down in the corner.

A game of Go, playing the game, putting a stone down, a gamble.

The game was one of the heart and the Way, the stones represented the universe, and the gamble was the future.

“Senior, who are you playing with?”

Murong Yun, tasked to serve Gu Suihan, looked curiously at this odd game of Go as she stood by his side. She couldn’t help but turn her gaze to the handsome young man before her and ask about it.

“Who am I playing with?” Gu Suihan glanced at her as he waved an arm and the board turned to dust. He turned to look at a different direction with an expression as calm as an abyss, a gaze as deep as the ocean, yet filled with a little anticipation as he murmured, “Someone familiar. I’m taking a gamble.”

“What’s the bet?”

Murong Yun was even more curious now. She was excellent in the zither, chess, literature, art and all sorts of random things, yet she couldn’t understand what was happening in that game of Go at all.

“The universe…” Gu Suihan looked intently at her and uttered two words that made Murong Yun look back in shock.

The great Qin Empire ruled over the world. And who ruled the great Qin empire?

Murong Yun wasn’t stupid. She immediately thought of one person. But she felt some disdain in her heart. Who did Gu Suihan think he was? How could he think he was qualified to play a game with that person?

But when she looked into Gu Suihan’s indifferent gaze, for some reason, her heart tensed up. The disdain and contempt she felt earlier instantly disappeared and were replaced with pure reverence. She had seen the void in his eyes. She had seen…the laws of nature.

“We are the same sort of person,” said Gu Suihan quietly as he picked up his teacup. He sounded more like he was talking to himself and didn’t seem to care that she was the one who asked the question.

“What sort of person?” she blurted.

“A person with no heart.” Gu Suihan’s genial features look angular now. His calm demeanor seemed somewhat coldhearted as well.

“A person with no heart…” Murong Yun did not speak anymore after that because she thought of what the leader of the Equal Spirit Order had said before.

In this world, the only person who had no heart but remained alive was the emperor of Qin, Ying Zheng.

Why was he described this way?

The leader of the Order did not explain in detail to them. He just said with great despair, “He has no weakness. He has no attachment to anything in the world.”

Before this, she didn’t understand.

But now, she did. When she saw the expression on Gu Suihan’s face, she understood.

At the same time, she felt even sadder for her father. And a little despair.

If you had to face someone who didn’t draw any line between true and false or good and evil, who didn’t care about any consequences and was no restricted in any way at all, you would feel the same sort of fear too.

If you were faced with someone just stronger than you, you could work really hard and you stood a chance of catching up.

But if you were faced with a madman who did things without any sort of pattern or followed any rules, you would have no choice but to retreat.

The Qin emperor…was a madman. For the sake of himself, he was happy to massacre the entire world.

Gu Suihan was a madman too. For the sake of his one desire, he was willing to kill anything in his way.

“The leader of your Order can’t kill me. He…isn’t qualified to do so. And he’s not capable of doing so either,” said Gu Suihan suddenly as he glanced calmly at the dazed Murong Yun. He didn’t bother to conceal his indifference and sounded like a high and mighty god looking down at the ants below.

“Is that so? The leader of the Order is an Immortal cultivator, but you think someone like him can’t kill you effortlessly?” retorted Murong Yun indignantly when she heard what he said.

Gu Suihan wasn’t bothered by what she said. He went on quietly, “And so what if he’s at the Immortal stage? There are millions of cultivators in this universe. Each stage has some who are weak and some who are strong. If your leader was really at the Immortal stage, why would he not dare to look at his own heart straight in the face? I would say he’s a fake Immortal at best.”

“I… The power of the Equal Spirit Order is beyond your comprehension. The Qin ruler has no morals to speak of. The people will rise up and attack him together one day,” said Murong Yun fiercely as she glared at him. She was like a little kitten that had been provoked.

“The people will rise up and attack together? You think too highly of yourself and too lowly of that man.” Gu Suihan poured the slightly cold tea in his cup away and poured himself another one as he said lazily, “He will kill all who go against him. If the universe goes against him, he will kill everybody. The one thing this universe doesn’t lack are living creatures. He will not soften his stance just because a lot of people are unhappy with him because…he doesn’t have a heart!”

“I…I don’t believe you,” muttered Murong Yun with trembling lips and a pale face. She looked like she had recalled something terrible but was still trying to put up a strong front.

“Like I said earlier, you think too highly of yourself. Who cares whether you believe me or not? In the same way, if I didn’t need the power of the Equal Spirit Order to find You Hantian, did you think you would still be alive to say these things to me right now?”

Gu Suihan placed the cup of warm tea in the slim hands of the woman staring at him in horror, then didn’t say anymore. He leaned back lazily on the bed and shut his eyes to rest.

“Esteemed one, exactly where are we going?” mumbled Li Yu in his mind as he waited frustratedly in the room.

“The 39^th domain. This is the nearest city with a flying ship and that’s where the ship is going. We have no time to waste,” replied the Esteemed One calmly.

“But…but we don’t have any spiritual coins, so how could we get on that ship?” Li Yu’s lips twitched as he touched his empty storage ring.

“Are you stupid? Don’t you know how to rob? Or steal?” The Esteemed One seemed to have gotten angry as he started shouting at Li Yu from inside Li Yu’s consciousness.

“But…”

Li Yu wanted to argue back, but the Esteemed One shut him down quickly. “Are you saying you’d rather remain like this forever? Don’t forget, that girl has been taken away by an evil organization…”

Those words were enough for Li Yu to put aside any morals and worries he had. He stopped being hesitant and undecided.

“By the way, which level have you reached in your cultivation technique?” asked the Esteemed One out of nowhere, as though he had suddenly recalled something.

Li Yu quickly responded, “The fifth level. What’s the matter?”

“If you don’t get yourself a new spiritual root, I’m afraid you’re going to be stuck at Foundation Establishment for the rest of your life,” said the Esteemed One with a sigh after hesitating for a moment.

“No way! I’m not letting that happen! If I remain at Foundation Establishment, I can’t rescue her, and I can’t revive Rou’er either.” Li Yu gnashed his teeth and cast his last shreds of integrity aside, turning to look out at the cultivators walking on the streets outside.